1. Assess your needs
A professional web design company should work with you rather than for you. It will help you in defining your organization’s requirements. Still, you should have a basic idea of what your web site can do for you.
- Will it serve as just an extension of your business card?
- Will it encourage new client inquiries?
- Will it strengthen relationship with your existing clients?
- Will it serve the needs of your employees?
There are few initial requirements your organization should aware of:
These initial requirements will help you finding web design firm best suited for your project. You should document them and use them as a basis for evaluating each web design firm. This document will serve as your benchmark to measure each web design firm.
2. List Generation
You can use many ways to search web design firm. There are strengths and weaknesses on selecting a method to search for web design firms.
Combination of different approaches will be your best bet in hunt of web design firm for your project.
Competitors’ web sites:
Look for web sites of organizations that you like, mainly web sites of your competitors. Sometimes you have to look for web sites other than your industry. Mostly, web design firm includes site credits (example: designed by Orlando Web Development). You can simply visit web design firm’s web site and carry on your analysis. If you cannot find the credits on the site, feel free to contact the organization and ask which web design firm is responsible for the web site? You can at least have some comments about that web design firm from the organization you will be contacting.
Ask your Social Circle and Family:
Ask your friends, colleagues and family which web design firm designed their web site, or if they otherwise recommend a web design firm. Find out what they liked or disliked about web design firm and about web site they developed for them. Few companies’ produces better results when they are given Start-Finish task while few are more inclined towards doing particular task.
3. Short List
By considering above mentioned you organization should create a short list of 4-5 web design firms that are best suited for your project.
Evaluate their work:
When its said evaluate, it means you have to evaluate their design portfolio, kind of web sites they have developed. If you want to sell products online, you should look for proven e-commerce solutions web design firm has developed.
It’s essential that you research a web design firm’s work so you can evaluate their potential and quality standards. A web site does not have to be flashy or very interactive to hit the deck, but you must appreciate web design firm’s design sense. Also, consider hiring a firm familiar with your particular industry.
When evaluating web design firms, note geographical location of their clients. A web design firm that has worked with clients in many geographical locations will have a more global approach to your website. It is not always necessary to hire a local design company. It can often inflate prices due to time spent in face-to-face meetings. Some projects DO require this type of interaction, however, the typical hybrid business website can be built by designers located anywhere on the globe.
If you would like to discuss YOUR website design project with an experienced designer, please don’t hesitate to Contact OUR Webmaster, David. He’ll be glad to point you in the right direction, free of charge.
